Julie Currid had always wanted to start her own business. For her, it was a case of finding the right opportunity at the right time. Having studied Management and Marketing in DIT, Julie began her career in marketing and sales, gaining experience in both Irish companies and multinationals.

In 2012, Julie returned from working in London to set up Initiafy with her business partner, Sean Fennell. Together they had recognised the need in the market for a product that would focus on the challenge of delivering inductions to large numbers of short-term workers.

Julie explains exactly how Initiafy helps their clients save time and money; “Some industries such as construction and mining face the challenge of high volumes of contract staff who all need to be introduced to the company culture, policies and safety procedures. Initiafy is an online platform that helps companies manage the initial steps new staff must take to become productive and safe members of their workforce. Our customers adapt the platform themselves to suit their needs so that new starters can self-register and selftrain before starting a new job.”

There is significant revenue potential for the company due to growing trends whereby companies are using more contract workers and workplace safety regulations continue to get attention. Initiafy helps companies to respond positively to both of these trends.

Initiafy’s customers are typically companies which use a large number of contractors, temporary, seasonal staff or project workers. Their client base now includes Pfizer, Pernod Ricard, FMC, Sodexo and five of the top 20 construction companies in the world. The company also works with all the major energy companies in Ireland such as ESB, Bordna Mona, Energia, Nordex, RES and Calor.

In December 2014, Initiafy opened an office in New York. Julie has recently returned to Ireland having expanded the US and Canadian offices and market share with new and existing team members. “More than 50% of our revenue now comes from USA and Canada so our growth plans are focused on heavy industry in North America.” Sean has now relocated to the States to continue a founder’s presence in that important
market.

The product offering has also seen a shift to suit market demand. “While our pain point was originally solely in inductions, product
development requests from customers have been around the contractor management and pre-qualification features. So we’ve focused on that portion of the product for the past year – we now even take photographs of the contractors while they’re completing the process to make sure that the person who arrives on site is the same person who registered and self-inducted.”

As a previous participant in Going for Growth (www.goingforgrowth.com), Julie experienced at first hand the benefits of a peer support approach. Julie found being in a confidential environment to discuss the highs and lows of the business with other entrepreneurs at a similar stage of development very beneficial and believes that she and Sean benefitted greatly from the sounding board that this provided.

Raising finance has instigated a major leap forward for Initiafy to date. Julie stresses the importance of securing sales traction
before approaching investors. “When setting up a business, you should focus on perfecting a sales pitch. Everything from acquiring customers, raising capital, PR, marketing and recruitment are all influenced by your ability to sell your company, your product and yourself!”

Headquartered in Dublin and with offices in London, New York and Toronto, Initiafy now employs 20 people and is set for further growth in 2017 and 2018.

Contact Us